Preparation
by clandestinedly
Summary: Rick had been planning to take the gruffalo trick or treating until a young Alexis had changed her mind. A snapshot of the preparation up to them trick or treating.


_So...I forgot to post this over the weekend, because I've been having major laptop issues. So here's my Halloween offering to the Castle fandom, it's just a little late. Apologies!_

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" _In an old house in Paris without any vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines._

 _In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed._

 _They smiled at the good, and frowned at the bad,_

 _And sometimes they were very sad._

 _They left the house at half past nine in two straight lines in rain or shine._

 _The smallest one was Madeline._

 _She was not afraid of mice – she loved winter, snow and ice._

 _To the tiger in the zoo, Madeline just said, 'Poo-poo.'"_

Martha watched proudly with her camera in hand as her only son fixed his daughter's Halloween costume. They'd taken Alexis trick or treating before so this wasn't a new tradition, but this year was different. Alexis had been fighting an inner battle for her independence and Rick had been resisting it, wanting to keep her as little as he could for as long as he could. There were times when she would want nothing more than to curl up beside her daddy, or for him to hoist her up onto his shoulders when she'd tire of walking, but right now it was clear to see that Alexis definitely was her father's daughter. She wanted to leave, and she wanted to leave _now._

Rick's large, clumsy hands fumbled with the red bow beneath the white Peter Pan collar of the costume Alexis had so firmly demanded one night at bedtime. He had been reading the adventures of Madeline to her, and it was so easy to see how Madeline and Alexis shared the same qualities. Both were tenacious and stubborn, redheads and fiercely independent; and as Rick had read the stories it was hard to try and distinguish the difference between the character and his daughter. Alexis' eyes lit up as he'd read to her, forever questioning why and how and what Madeline was doing, and whether she could do what her current favourite literary character was doing.

"Daddy, s _top_ ," Alexis whined, shoving her hands roughly down the blue of her dress. Her white cotton tights had gathered in bunches around her ankles, slightly draping down the patent leather shoes Rick had managed to find last minute after her daughter's sudden change of heart with her Gruffalo costume losing out in favour of Ludwig Bemelman's tale of a group of girls in an orphanage.

"I have to fix your bow, Lex" Rick tells Alexis, nodding his head as he struggles to tie the knot. His forehead furrows in concentration as he loops the two knots together, tucking one ear beneath the other so that he could pull them through to form a bow, before Alexis had gotten impatient; pushing her father away as she ran towards Martha.

"Now now, sweetheart," Martha had laughed as she put the camera down onto the granite work surface of the kitchen, smoothing her hand over Alexis' fine red hair before cupping her granddaughter's head softly with the palm of her hand. "Your father has to tie your bow, just like the one on your hat," she says, her voice commanding Alexis' attention immediately as she picks up the straw boater with its soft wicker dome top. A long piece of red ribbon had been tied and hot glue gunned in place (thank you Martha) around its circumference; it's long-red tail hanging delicately as she holds it up for Alexis to see. "Just like this," she nods, watching as Alexis visibly relents and looks back towards Rick who was still bent on his knees, waiting for his daughter to return.

"'kay," Alexis nods before running back over to her father, bouncing eagerly in place. "But _hurry_ , daddy. Mine pumpkin is empty," she declares with a tone of sadness to her voice, causing Rick to laugh.

"It's empty because we haven't been trick or treating yet, but we'll be leaving soon," he tells his daughter with a soft chuckle as he finally manages to tie the bow, straightening the ribbons before Martha approaches the pair, handing Rick the straw boater. He places it onto his daughter's head, thankful for his mother's insight to sew a piece of elastic to the underside so that he could secure it under Alexis' chin. She had an exorbitant amount of energy even without candy, so he couldn't imagine the accessory lasting long once she had started to sneak pieces of candy as they walked around the neighbourhood. Last year he had trusted her to hold the much smaller bag of candy, only to find that she had eaten most of it by the time they had gotten home, and when he had tried to take the bag from her Alexis had held her breath until she had turned blue in the face. It was an experience he didn't particularly want to relive again, and so he had been hoping that letting her choose her own Halloween costume would give her a sense of pride and self-satisfaction that would have her distracted from the growing amount of candy in her pumpkin pail.

"Done?" Alexis asks, fidgeting with the elastic as she cranes her neck to try and get used to the sensation while her father stands up and takes a step back as Martha takes a few shots of her only granddaughter in the first Halloween costume she had chosen for herself.

"We're good to go," Rick nods, fixing his pocket watch into the pocket of his waistcoat before shuffling the Windsor knot of his tie further into the crease of his shirt collar with a nod as Martha goes to retrieve his suit jacket from the back of the dining chair he had draped it on shortly before he had declared that it was time for Alexis to get ready.

"Of all the Halloween costumes I thought I'd ever see you in, a smart suit and waistcoat isn't what I had expected," Martha had laughed as she handed her son his jacket, smoothing the lapels down once he had slid his arms into the material, shrugging it over his broad shoulders.

"I don't know, you were witness to both of my previous marriages weren't you, mother?" Rick laughs with a gleam to his eye as his thoughts briefly cast back to his weddings to Meredith and Gina. Both had played out like a horror story, ending in divorce, so it only seemed fitting that he'd chosen this character for his costume.

"Cucuface!" A loud squeal and a giggle is heard from across the room as Alexis grabs her pumpkin-shaped bucket from the sofa, running eagerly over to her dad as she grabs his hand, grinning up at him with her eyes shining brightly. She had definitely inherited her father's love of the holiday season. "We go now," she nods decisively with a grin. "Mine candy is waiting!"

"If Alexis wants to be Madeline for Halloween, then I'm going to be Lord Covington," Rick says to Martha, smiling as he lifts Alexis into his arms before pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Sorry, _Lord Cucuface_ ," he says, correcting herself as Alexis nods her head, satisfied with his change in name. "We're going now, but first…' _She was not afraid of mice, she loved winter, snow, and ice! To the tiger in the zoo, Madeline just said_ '," Rick pauses as he recites the lines from her favorite story, tickling his daughter's stomach as he looks at her.

"Poo-poo!" She squeals with delight, squirming in Rick's arms happily as she throws her arms around her neck, sending the pumpkin crashing to the ground as she hugs her father happily.


End file.
